


Lost

by Izzu



Category: Gintama
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-01-17 08:37:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12361824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Izzu/pseuds/Izzu
Summary: Set after the Battle of the Kokujou Island. The arrival of the original Yatagarasu devastated more than just one person. And for Gintoki... truthfully, he just wanted to run away.





	1. People say that when you're scared you should reach out for help, but really that wasn't something so easy to do.

**Author's Note:**

> Setting this right after Matsudaira and Kondou's rescue mission. For reasons. XD And finally giving a proper summary for this fic, well, a new one I put together cos I forgot what was the original one that I thought of.

"Gin-chan... I can do this myself, you should treat your own injuries already..."

"Yes, Gin-san. I could even help her out, so please leave this to—"

Almost robotically, Gintoki slapped away Shinpachi's hands as he continued to treat Kagura's hands. Or _trying_ to treat her hands, that is. His left hand shook as he struggled to hold Kagura's hand firmly.

Kagura stared at Gintoki's injured wrist with worry. Earlier, Gintoki had torn a bit of cloth and tied it over the wound to stop the bleeding, but that was still _far_ from a proper treatment. Yet now, instead of letting anyone tending to him, Gintoki only fussed over Shinpachi and _her_. As if he had no care about his _own_ wellbeing. It worried her, _this_. This was not the way her big bro Gin-chan usually act. Yet nothing she or Shinpachi could do or say would reach him. Was there anyone who could—

"Gin-san? Shin-chan? Kagura-chan, are you guys here?"

Kagura's ears perked as she heard that familiar voice. She glanced up and looked around, as she caught sight of the older woman at the other side of the room.

"Boss sis! Over here! We're all over here!" she started to call out as Shinpachi also joined her to get his sister's attention.

xxx

The image kept coming back into his mind. That overly familiar _smiling face_. That overly familiar _voice_. That overly familiar _gigantic presence_. It's what often _haunted_ his nightmares every one week or two. The only few times he could ever see _him_ , aside from those _other_ nightmares from the Joui wars as well as those old _bloody memories_ from his childhood. Yet right now it wasn't a dream. He was still awake. Yet he wished that all of this was just another _nightmare_...

 _Go away!,_ he screamed inside his head as he treated the cut just above Kagura's right eye. _Leave me alone!,_ he screamed again as he tried to focus his mind solely to tend to Kagura's injuries.

But even as he tried to divert his attention towards the cuts on Kagura's hands... _the memories kept rushing in_. All those _little details_  he saw from that time that he barely took note, all of them started coming back to him with full clarity. Like some broken projector, it started replaying all of the memories of the past recollections without fail... regardless whether or not he wanted to see them again.

That moment when he came in contact with the man who called himself as Utsuro.

Gintoki felt himself shudder at the memory.

That man... was _smiling_. He was smiling when he rushed down to cut _him_! As if... that man's purpose there was just...

To see him.

_"...you should be delighted, Shiroyasha. Your screams have finally reached the heavens..."_

Did that person... came down because of him? Was that shot... a greeting by _him_ to see if he was worthy of _his_ attention? If not because of those other Naraku goons attacking him from behind and him reacting by instinct to use their bodies to shield himself from the blast, he could have really died.

Or was that... _also_ another test from _him_? To see if he was indeed worthy of the _leader of Tendoshuu's_ attention.

"Gin-chan... please stop? You should let someone treat your injuries... I could do this myself,"

He shook his head to brush off the bad thoughts from his mind but his hand kept shaking. His left hand.

Earlier he had used a torn piece of cloth to temporary stopped the bleeding on his wrist after they managed to escape from that man. He thought that it was enough. Rather than worrying about himself, he felt it was better to take care of Shinpachi and Kagura first. They were his charges, after all, As useless as he was, he still has to be responsible for the kids' safety. That was common sense... _right?_

Yet perhaps... that was not the _only_ reasoning. Being a responsible adult, that is.

_The truth is... he was trying to run away._

Staring at the slipshod bandage he placed on his wrist made him realize that. He was trying to run away from facing the reality that he'd _finally_ come to face. That the truth he never thought he could finally find out now, end up to be something terrible. Even more terrible than he could ever imagine.

_"What the hell were you before we met up...?"_

_"Who the hell are you?"_

Kagura and Shinpachi started shouting over something but he could barely hear what they're shouting about. He felt his whole body becoming numb, the air around him becoming _cold_. He wished that this was just a bad nightmare, he wished for it so much...!

Did the child he used to be back then _sensed_ how much a monster that _person_ has been? Or did he not? Then again, even back then... he wasn't really quite a normal child himself. _That_ child... who used to be called the 'Corpse-Eating Oni'...

Suddenly, he started realizing how his sight started to get blurry. Gintoki was _still staring_ at Kagura's hand, _still trying_ to get himself to start tending to the cut on her palm yet found himself dumbfounded. Without warning, Gintoki felt a warmth on his cheeks.

He glanced up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to play with different narrative perspectives, so bear with me for now.


	2. You know that the storms have passed when you can't hear any more rumblings in the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally posting this. Took me some time to be able to form words as to how to convey the image I have for this fic.

The moment they were picked up by the Mimawarigumi ship, she had been anxious about the safety of her baby brother, Kagura... and especially Gintoki. That man... who tend to push himself too hard— _way_  too hard at times—to the point that he would often be the one with the worst injury by the end of the days. It was something that she never quite gotten used to... but one she learned to accept, knowing the kind of person Gintoki was. Someone who would do his utmost best to protect, even at the cost of his own life.  
  
While she had continued tending to the many injured police officers and Joui members; even on board of the ship, she couldn't stop worrying. So as the battle outside still continued, she tried her best to keep a positive outlook and prayed for everyone's safety. Yet once she decided that the battle was over—that the ship she was on has stopped shaking violently, meaning that the battles have ended—she made a request to transfer to the ship where Gintoki and the others were on.  
  
So here she was.  
  
Call her silly but like the others, she was  _also_  quite protective of the people she cared and loved. So for her to be this frantic about looking for her 'family members' wouldn't have been surprising. Luckily enough for her, there were several Shinsengumi officers that she recognized on board. It didn't take her  _too long_  to get directed towards the cabin where Gintoki, Shinpachi and Kagura should be. Some of those Shinsengumi officers also assumed that she could have come to look for Kondou—well, as long as she knew that man was still alive... that should be enough. This mission was originally meant to save his and former Police Superintendent Matsudaira's life after all, so knowing that they succeeded in achieving that... well, she was fine with that.  
  
Now, if only the people she had been worrying about were also safe...  
  
"Boss sis! Over here! We're all over here!"  
  
"Big sis!"  
  
Otae's ears pricked as she recognized the voices that were calling for her. Her heart felt light over relief the moment she saw Shinpachi, Kagura and Gintoki. But then, as she got closer she realized that there was something _really wrong_. She sat down as Otae was greeted by the worried looks of both Kagura and Shinpachi.  
  
"Oh my... you guys! How could I not worry about you guys when you often come back with injuries like these—!" she started nagging as Otae took a closer look at Shinpachi and Kagura's injuries.  
  
"Boss sis...!" Kagura cried again as Otae finally saw the cut on her hand. The bleeding has stopped—trust the Yato bloodline's healing abilities to kick in for her—but she could still see how deep the cut was. Her instincts had been to immediately ask Kagura how did she get such deep cut but then she realized that someone  _was_  trying to treat her injuries. Yet...  
  
Otae finally turned to look at Gintoki. And saw that despite he looked as if he was _fine_ , Gintoki's eyes were glazed.   
  
"Gin-san? Gin-san, can you hear me?"  
  
Gintoki did not respond to her voice as his eyes remained blank. Otae placed a hand on his cheek and spoke gently again. "Gin-san?"  
  
xxx  
  
Shinpachi stared towards the two worriedly as he wondered if his sister could snap Gin out of his daze. Because if he and Kagura couldn't do it—Gin-san slowly lifted his head toward his sister as Shinpachi heaved a sigh of relief.  
  
Before he could say anything else, his sister immediately barked an order.  
  
"Shin-chan, can you take care of Kagura's injuries?"   
  
Shinpachi blinked before snapping himself out of his own reverie and shuffled towards Kagura. As he started tending to her cuts and bandaging her hand, he could feel that a part of him has finally started to calm down a bit. Tonight had been such a wild night, and he thought he'd been to the worst battlefield before coming here. To think that earlier he had some misgivings over allowing his sister to come along to this mission. It was a blessing that his sister was here.  
  
He spared another glance towards Tae and Gintoki.  
  
_What a relief_ , Shinpachi caught himself thinking. Perhaps having his sister coming along wasn't such a bad idea. Recalling the earlier... almost _inhuman_ battle scene, he never thought he'd ever see Gin-san being so shaken. That monster—Utsuro—had been nothing like _any_  other opponent that they've ever faced before. And despite that, Gin-san had been the _only_ person who could match up with that monster. Yet even then... if even Gin-san was _daunted_ by that person, how could any of them even try to offer him any words of encouragement or even _comfort_ him in times like this? If even their only source of _hope_ was in despair...  
  
_But perhaps Big Sis could do it_ , he could hear himself thinking again. Even if the two of them often don't get along too much—Gin-san having constantly made fun of his sister's awful cooking and flat chest, and her sister finding many reasons to punch the life out of Gin on many occasion—those two had always been able to understand each other whenever the situation called for it. And his big sister had always been there watching over Gin-san whenever he got hurt—if not Otose-san—so if there's _anyone_ here that could reach out to Gin...  
  
Shinpachi turned towards Kagura before shrugging.   
  
"Don't worry, it should be all right now," he said to her as Kagura smiled weakly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And shit, hahahaha. Now I had to go back revisit the chapters/episode of Gin-Utsuro battle, just to recall all of the injuries he sustained during the whole ordeal haha


	3. You'd be lying to yourself if you ever said you never find any parts in any Gundam battles on TV not cool.

Otae took a long breath of air. That's it, she could do it. How many time has it been until now? Ever since that first night, when Shinpachi called for her and her hurrying over to find Gintoki with a _grave injury?_ Which wasn't actually her _first_ time to see him hurt—but that time was the first time that she had sincerely _worried_ for his life. That time, as she sat beside his unmoving body for three days and wondering if she would never see him awake again. She had pretended that she never really worried that much when he did and acted the way she usually did to not make him worry about her. But truthfully? Seeing him hurt was _unbearable._

She could have tried to stop him all those times, to tell him to not get involved in things that could lead him into dangerous situations but she knew what kind of a person Gintoki was. He could never look away from the people who needed his help. She knew that, so that was why she could never stop him from doing the things that he believed he should do. 

_What an idiotic man... right?_

But that's why she respected and _loved_ him so much.

Otae gently bandaged the left forearm that clearly looked as if Gin had used it to stop an incoming blade aimed towards him. And it was almost on the same spot as the wound he got not too long ago. When Gin and the others returned from Iga. She sighed.

"This started to be a force of habit, isn't it? Gin-san, you really _do_ need to take care of your body better... you're not a Gundam, " Otae snickered as she hastily wiped a tear from her eye. "You can't treat your arm as if you had an invisible shield there that you could use..." she added, before cutting the end of the strip of cloth so that she could tie it around the bandaged arm.

Gintoki remained unresponsive despite she was aware that he could hear her voice.

"Boss sis..." Otae turned towards Kagura as her heart ached again, seeing her bandaged face.

"Please take a look at Gin-chan's shoulder..." said Kagura as Otae turned back to face Gintoki.

"I'll help you out, big sis..." said Shinpachi as she was unzipping Gintoki's top halfway open. Otae smiled as she let her brother help her but then she started to frown. There were multiple blade wounds all over his body. But the worst of it; was a verticle cut that was almost slightly above Gin's right collarbone. The cut wasn't too deep, but deep enough to tell her that this cut was not something that happened by _accident_. Or a near miss. From the direction of the blade mark, she could tell that whoever swung the blade towards Gintoki and making this mark... that person had _intended_ to take Gintoki's head with the strike.

 _"Gin could have died!"_ Otae thought in alarm as she let out a faint gasp.

"It's nothing..." Otae turned her eyes towards Gintoki's face as he finally spoke.

"What did you mean 'it's nothing', Gin-chan?" Kagura suddenly cried out from behind her. "If I didn't stop that guy's blade... Gin-chan, you could've... you could've—!"

_Ah... so Kagura was the one that saved Gintoki..._

xxx

"Shin-chan?"

Shinpachi glanced up as his sister turned towards him and showed him a slightly forced smile. "Can you and Kagura ask around if there's anything you can get for us to eat?" she turned towards Kagura, smiling... almost _unnaturally_. "Kagura-chan, surely you're also feeling hungry by now?"

"But Boss sis!" Kagura started to say before Shinpachi pulled her up to her feet.

A part of him had wanted to ask her why, but then Shinpachi recognized that look in his sister's eyes. She wasn't _really_  giving him that request because she was hungry. It was an excuse to get him to take Kagura away from Gintoki.

As expected of his sister...

"Sure, sis..." Shinpachi spoke out. "We'll take a look around," he added, before dragging Kagura away from the two. While taking the mind to avoid the other injured Mimawarigumi officers and Shinsengumi officers who were _also_ lying around the room, being treated for their injuries.

"Shinpachi! What're you doing?" Kagura cried out just as they walked out into the ship's inner corridors. "This is no time to think about food—" Without warning, Kagura's stomach started to grumble. Shinpachi grinned as Kagura made a face.

"I _know_. Gin-san can be quite frustrating... right? But let's leave that to Big Sis. Besides, I'm getting hungry too. All this tension in the air can't be good,"

Kagura shrugged, immediately forgetting her anger towards Gin-san. "Yeah, you're right," she said before linking her arm awkwardly around his. "Let's go!"

Shinpachi laughed. "Kagura-chan, can you still eat with both your hands like that?"

Kagura gave him a fierce look. "Do not underestimate my power, Pattsan!"

xxx

After several minutes of wrapping the gauze all around Gin's shoulder and abdomen, covering every single cut she could find on his body... Otae sighed. Just as she was about to run out of them. She picked up a few more band-aids and started putting them on the few cuts and grazes on Gintoki's face.

"There you go... you're _finally_ looking a bit more decent," she started talking, not expecting any reply to come from him. Still staring at his face, Otae smiled weakly.

"Gin-san..."

She let out another long sigh.

"Shin-chan and Kagura are not here now," Otae paused, not sure how to word her next sentence. "I—I don't know what was it that you saw back on that island, or who was it that you confronted that made you so _distraught_ like this. But if there's anything that I could do..."

Gintoki started to lift his head to look at her properly. Otae smiled.

"You don't have to pretend to be strong all the time. The kids aren't here right now, so you can just—"

Without warning, Gintoki started leaning towards her...

In an instant, Tae could feel her heart clenched.


	4. Don't argue with someone who recently got shot in the stomach unless you want to get some blood on you yourself.

_"Did you hear the rumours? The leader of Tendoshuu actually appeared to join the fight! And he's a monster!"_

_"I heard from the guys in the first squad, that even Captain Okita couldn't match up to him!"_

_"That Yorozuya was also something else, he actually managed to land some blows to that monster!"_

_"Are these guys really the fearsome policemen that guarded Edo or a bunch of gossiping housewives?"_ Katsura wondered furiously before recalling that a lot of the Joui samurai were also like that. He shook his head as he tried to wade through the many injured people lying about in the decks before heading towards the ship's corridors. Because he had _a bad feeling_... and he wanted to find Gintoki to confirm his thoughts. And he recalled seeing Leader and Shimura Shinpachi heading towards the other part of the ship with Gintoki.

If not because of his injuries, he could have caught up to Gintoki much sooner...

Katsura felt a hand grabbing him from behind as he turned around.

[Where are you going?]

A placard with those very words was shoved towards him as Elizabeth gave him a concerned look. And he kept telling _her_ to talk to him properly, Katsura thought angrily, considering Elizabeth had often done that to other people but _she_ still insisted to communicate with him indirectly like this.

He shrugged. "I just wanted to check on Gintoki, and there's something I wanted to talk about with him."

[You're still injured, I should be accompanying you.]

Katsura just waved the concerns away. "I'm not dead yet. This meagre injury's not enough to kill me. I should be fine by myself. Go check the rest of the Joui members and see to them if you have free time."

Elizabeth hesitated for a moment before nodding and turned away from Katsura. Katsura smiled as he resumed walking towards the corridors...

xxx

When was it that he started to become comfortable, being in her presence? He couldn't remember now.

Gintoki just stared at her hands as Otae held his left arm gently, and started tending to his wounds. He continued his musings.

When was it that he started to not mind her seeing him in a vulnerable state? When was it that he started being able to talk to her casually... about anything? When did he find this boyish, violent woman... someone whose presence was comforting to him?

_"...Gintoki,"_

A flash of memory appeared inside his mind. An image of a man with long greyish hair. A man with a _gentle_ face. Who, despite that gentle face and voice... had the strength of a _monster_ that he never found out the reason for the man to have it.

_Ah... was it because Otae has somehow a similar presence as **that man** , that he felt comfortable with her?_

"—if there's anything that I could do..."

He looked up to see Otae's big eyes staring back at him. This girl who usually put him through a lot of violence— _not that he really minded it_ —and scolded him whenever he seemed to slack off a bit too much, but for moments like this she would act so _caring_ to him. Somehow, he couldn't help feeling grateful...

_"You know my sword... don't you?"_

_"You know... that your sword cannot **reach** me..."_

The memory of the last fight just _had_ to reappear inside his mind again. Alongside another... _older_ memory that wasn't as _traumatic_. 

_How could that person... be Shouyou?_

"You don't have to pretend to be strong all the time—"

Gintoki blinked, as his heart started to ache really bad. He wanted to scream... yet, he didn't want Otae to have to shoulder this burden for him once she knew about it. This heavy burden inside of his heart.

Yet...

Gintoki reached out towards Otae before crying on her shoulders.

xxx

"You're saying that Yorozuya _knew_ who was that so-called _leader_ of the Tendoshuu?"

Okita stopped in his tracks before turning towards Hijikata. "Hijikata-san? You're lucky that I'm not in the mood for killing you tonight. You weren't _there_ when those two fought each other. You haven't clashed swords with that monster even _once_."

Hijikata snorted. "Heh, as if you haven't tried to kill me any other day..." he turned his head towards Okita. "Seriously, that guy's so powerful?"

Okita rolled his eyes at him. "His speed was unbelievable, it's like he's inhuman! Wait... he is. The Boss landed a good hit on him after China girl and I manage to immobilize him, and that guy _still_ managed to come back acting as if the attack was nothing. Even when a ship _crashed_  directly onto him that monster somehow was still alive afterwards!"

Hijikata frowned. "That sounded serious. And you're sure that Yorozuya and that Imai-girl were the only ones that knew that guy?"

Okita nodded. "Yes. I barely caught them talking about it later while we were escaping. I couldn't really catch what they're saying but there's no questioning it. No, they _definitely_ knew that guy. Even before that monster appeared, Imai has tried to warn China girl and me to escape and Boss had been able to anticipate that guy's movements almost _too accurately_ to assume that this was the first time they ever encountered each other."

"Then, we might have a new formidable enemy to worry about now. Geez... why do things keep getting more troublesome these days..." Hijikata groaned.

"What... were you two talking about?"

Both of them turned around to find Katsura walking up to them. Katsura cast them a suspicious glance. "What was that you were talking about just now? What _new enemy_ that just appeared?"

Okita just shrugged at him. "That's what we're trying to find out right now. Because of what happened earlier... and the shock of seeing Sasaki Isaburou's death, Imai was now unconscious and being treated for her injuries. We would have just interrogated her if she wasn't but since Yorozuya Boss also seem to know the enemy, we might as well ask him instead."

"You should just go back and recuperate from your injuries yourself, _Katsura_. This is _our_ business now, you have no need to get involved...", said Hijikata as the two continued on towards their destination.

Katsura frowned before chasing after them as fast as he could. His injuries started to bother him again but he ignored it as he entered the cargo room that the two Shinsengumi officers just walked into.

"Hey, wait for a seco—" Katsura paused as he noticed belatedly that the two just froze in front of him. Puzzled, he tried to see what was it that they were looking at... and then he saw Gintoki with Otae.

"Oh... I've wondered about this before, but I never thought the two were really _THAT_ close," Hijikata started to say.

Okita shrugged. "I've _hinted_ at this before, haven't I? I told you that I'm good at sensing this kinda stuff..."

Hijikata just scoffed at it. "Well, we had a much more important business than to worry about barging into someone's _love affair_. Let's just fin—" Without warning, someone grabbed his arm and stopping him in his tracks. He turned around to see _Katsura_ giving him a stern look.

"Hijikata-dono... Okita-dono," Katsura started to speak. "Whatever it was that you want to talk about Gintoki right now, I beg you... please do it later."

Hijikata frowned. "Why? If this because he's your friend or any of that Joui honour shit, I have no time to bother—"

Katsura continued keeping a firm grasp of Hijikata and Okita, despite his injuries. "I'm telling you... this is **not** the best time to do this," he said before casting a long look towards Gintoki.

He sighed to himself before dragging both officers out of the room.

xxx

Hijikata brushed Katsura off him before giving him a furious glare.

"What's the meaning of this, Katsura? Just because we had a brief alliance before, you can't just order—"

Katsura looked up towards them, his features showed them that he was _also_ being serious at the moment.

"I'm asking you to leave Gintoki alone for now," he said before letting out another sigh. "I knew that look from before. And there were only very _few_ times that I've ever seen Gintoki looking like that. Even if you try to approach him right now I doubt that you'd get anything from him regardless. You might as well talk to me."

"But it's not like you have the information that we were looking for..." Okita started to say before Katsura cut him off.

"Try me. I had my suspicions too—you Shinsengumi should've at least keep your members from gossiping too much, I managed to grasp on a few earlier. It's why I'm looking for him too," Katsura paused to gather his thoughts together. "Since it made me think of an  _unlikely_ situation."

Katsura glanced up towards them.

"You guys should've at least remember that I'm quite close to Gintoki. Whether the enemy you're talking about was someone that he met during the Joui war... or someone from _his past_ , I should _also_ know them." He paused again as if finding it hard to speak. "If you're talking about the person I'm thinking right now— _even if I find it hard to believe it,_ I would also want to confirm it as much as you do."

Hijikata and Okita glanced towards each other as Katsura continued, "Because if it was _that_ person that you guys met at Kokujou Island, I can't allow Gintoki to face him alone again. I can't let Gintoki carry that burden by himself again."

"Not this time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally having Katsura into the story like I wanted, cos there's no way I could leave him out. If there's any odd wording, do try to point it out since I might miss them.


	5. Writing romance scenes are hard, how do other people do this without losing their heads?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listening to Blue Encount's VS really help me in trying to nail the mood.

When Gintoki leaned in and wrapped his arms around her neck, she was taken by surprise. Yet, unlike how it usually happened between them in the past, her first thought was not to _push him away_. Which was interesting considering that last time—even if it turned out that it was just a blow-up doll dressed up to look like him—just the mere _thought_ of Gintoki being intimate with her made her nervous.

 _Well, it's not like she could afford to push him away now,_ she mused before letting out a soft sigh.

Gintoki was crying. It was a side that he rarely showed to others if he could help it. For him to have a breakdown like this...

_It must have been too painful for him to keep it inside himself._

Otae cautiously lets her arm wander upwards towards the back of Gintoki's neck as she could feel her heart beating faster. There was still a bit of space between the two of them and she wondered if it would be appropriate for her to pull him closer. But before she could ponder over it, Gintoki made the move first as his arms slithered down and wrapped themselves around her body. Effectively pulling her close against his chest as Otae felt her cheeks getting warmer. Suddenly, her mind went blank.

That's how much Gintoki's presence overwhelmed her. But then slowly, her ears manage to pick up again his faint sobs that were mostly muffled due to Gintoki's face pressing on towards the crook of her neck. Her heart ached again as she took the chance to caress the back of Gin's head.

xxx

Meanwhile, on another part of the ship...

Kagura started to groan as she followed behind Shinpachi. Their earlier food hunt had turned into a volunteer service in which they ended up helping out to distribute food to everyone on the ship. Because of that, they weren't able to get back to Gintoki and Otae as quickly as they initially hoped.

Well, more time for his sister to try to make Gin-san feel better, thought Shinpachi. Shinpachi glanced around as he noticed Kagura's discontent.

"Cheer up, Kagura-chan! After we finished with all of this, we'll get back to Big Sis and Gin-san. They'll understand the delay once we explain what happened." He shrugged. "Besides, isn't this what us—Yorozuya Gin-chan—do?"

Kagura moaned. "All I want to do right now is eat. I'm really starting to get really hungry now... and it's not like I could do much with these hands!" she cried before waving her hands at him.

Shinpachi put down the box he's carrying. "What're you complaining about... Kagura-chan when I'm the one doing most of the heavy work?" He took a bun from the box and gave it to her. "Here, eat this. Let's finish this quick so that we can get back to Big Sis soon,"

Kagura grinned widely before happily biting into the tasty meat bun.

xxx

Otae could almost hear the sound of her own heartbeats in her ears. _What should I do now?_

Despite the cold night, Otae felt warm all over her body. Or more like, Gintoki's embrace was warm. For some reason, it made her wonder who was it that was comforting the other.

Gintoki has stopped crying as Otae thought that perhaps she could use this moment to ask him what was wrong. She started to pull away from him but then Gintoki grabbed her arm to stop her. Otae glanced up before realizing that Gintoki's face started to come closer towards her...

_Is this going to be a... k-k-k-kiss?!_

Otae closed her eyes in fear, yet a part of her felt exhilarated. _What would kissing Gintoki feel like? What would_... but then she realised that something was _wrong._ She opened her eyes to find Gintoki's face still quite close to hers, but now he was staring at her... almost at a lost.

"I-I... I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm..." Gintoki blushed as he hastily pulled away.

Otae felt herself going red too. "Aah..."

What was she expecting anyway? There's no way Gin would—Otae was about to move away before realizing that Gintoki was still holding her hand tightly. She glanced back towards him to see that Gintoki's face had become even redder than before. Not sure it was just because of all the crying earlier or...

Otae's gaze towards him softened.

_This idiotic man, could he be..._

Now that she thought about it, as much as Gin was often seen flirting around with random ladies that he could find; it never appeared as if he was really serious about those ladies that he randomly approached. So what if all of _that_ had just been a facade in the past? Just a ruse that he did to pretend that he was all that, yet when it comes to the ones he was truly attracted to he couldn't—

The thought made her smile as Otae kissed him on the cheek.

The sudden cold breeze made her shiver slightly as she pulled up Gintoki's yukata to cover his body. (Why did she forgot to do that earlier? Oh... it's because of what Gintoki did.)

"Wait here..." she said before standing up, feeling a bit silly—like where else would Gintoki go in his current state of mind?—and beating herself up over the _rare chance_ she just threw away earlier. But then, after remembering where they were right now and the fact the two of them were not exactly alone in this not-quite-small cargo deck, perhaps it was for the best that things turned out that way. Even if at the moment, most of the other people lying around resting weren't quite at the leisure to ogle at them, much less see her almost kissing Gintoki _passionately_ in public.

Otae blushed again as the thought crossed her mind.

"What're you thinking, Otae..." she scolded herself before noticing that some of the injured officers had blankets with them, to shield them from the night's cold. Blankets! She should ask around on where to take some...


	6. It's really ironic when you're talking about something you really don't know anything about. Like really, when had you ever actually eaten a dragon fruit?

Katsura frowned.

After being led into a smaller upper deck cabin where Kondou have waited for them, Captain Okita started telling him his recollection of encountering the leader of Tendoshuu, who called himself the original Yatagarasu. From his initial fight with Imai Nobume, to the moment she got impaled out of nowhere when Kagura stopped their fights; to the moment the enemy made his appearance and how the combined efforts of him, Kagura and Imai barely made a scratch on the monster. When Okita talked about the surreal battle between Gintoki and that person... and how the person seemed to have an uncanny ability to heal himself in a blink of an eye, Katsura's frown went deeper.

He sighed.

"And I was hoping that it was just a coincidence. That maybe it was just someone who happened to have the same appearance... the same monstrous strength." Katsura glanced up towards the trio. "But what's the likelihood of something like that happening?"

"So... it's true that you knew who was it that we're facing? This new enemy?" Kondou asked as Katsura nodded.

"If it was someone from our past, no one else matched the description Captain Okita mentioned except  _that person_. It's unbelievable... but it's not like any of us  _really knew_  that person really well before.  _Or what he truly was_." Katsura shrugged. "It's like how you'd react if you tried to eat a dragon fruit after so long contemplating to eat it or not. You thought you knew how it'd taste but then you end up not eating it because you're scared that it wouldn't be like you thought it'd be. You put it on the highest pedestal and hoped that the reality of the fruit's taste matches that expectation. That dragon fruit was your hero, it shouldn't be any other thing. But when you finally  _do_  eat the fruit, you realized that the taste of the fruit was  _really_  a lot different than what you imagined it could be and you can't help feeling lost. All the beliefs one puts on that dragon fruit... all of that came crashing down.  _The hero you were looking up to... ended up not being someone you thought they were,_ "

Hijikata licked his lips without thinking and then went red once he realized he was doing it. He sent a glare towards Okita who was smiling smugly at him, while trying to avoid staring at Kondou who suddenly had this odd expression on his face; like he would really want to have a taste of a dragon fruit now.

_Why did Katsura suddenly talked about trying to eat some exotic fruit out of nowhere? And why suddenly talking about a hero... oh wait..._

He shook his head hastily before turning back towards Katsura.

"T-t-then... this person should have a name, right?" he stammered out.

Katsura nodded. "Yoshida Shouyou, our teacher at the Shoka Sonjuku school. Or maybe someone that's merely a copy of him. Still, I can't believe that Sensei would have anything to do with Tendoshuu..."

"Or maybe, it's both?" Okita quipped, before getting an elbow from Hijikata. He made an annoyed face at the taller man before shrugging. "I think I heard Imai told Boss while we're escaping that that man was Shouyou and  _not him_  at the same time."

Hijikata kicked him in the leg, this time. "I thought before you said that you didn't hear any names?"

Okita just waved him off. "I just held my tongue on that, because I'm not sure. Because I thought that I've heard that name before—but after hundreds of manga chapters and anime episode—you can never be sure, right? And I'm lazy to dig through that bunch right now." He turned his attention towards Katsura again. "But something that I couldn't understand was... why did Imai say something about, Boss wasn't the one that  _killed_  Shouyou... but that person did. That Utsuro."

Hijikata did a double take as Kondou's expression turned serious again. They turned their attention towards Katsura.

The man just sighed. "Yeah, you didn't hear wrong. Twenty years ago or so... Gintoki had cut Yoshida-sensei down."

xxx

He couldn't believe what he was hearing.  _Yorozuya... cut down his teacher? Why would he—?_  Suddenly he had an ominous feeling.

_"There were two things that I wanted to protect, I didn't want to lose either one of them. But it ended up where if I didn't throw away one of them. I would end up losing both."_

For some reason, Yorozuya's words came back to mind. Back when he was hesitating on what action he should do; allowing their senior officers be sacrificed for the sake of protecting the organization, or to risk losing the Shinsengumi in order to save Matsudaira and Kondou. Whether or not he should ally with his former enemy—the Joui rebels—to save the two... and going against the  _very_  government that he had sworn to serve when he became Shinsengumi's vice commander. Those words had felt ominous to him back then but he hadn't thought about it too long.

_Could it be...?_

"What... how did that happened?"

Katsura just shrugged, as if he was just talking about some old topic that he grew tired of telling.

"The three of us—Gintoki, Shinsuke and me—did not just join the war back then because we were very patriotic. We actually had other...  _personal_  reason to join the war,"

Hijikata frowned as he grabbed a chair to sit. He's been standing too long anyway. Katsura continued talking.

"It was to save that man. Few years prior, a group of assassins destroyed our school and took Yoshida-sensei away. Because of that, we vowed to become stronger so that we could take him back." Katsura shrugged at them. "Those people that took sensei away, we later found out that they were the Naraku. We heard that those assassins were allied with the Amanto, so we joined the war to save him."

"You said that you guys tried to save Yoshida Shouyou," Kondou asked before recalling another thing that Katsura just said earlier, "... then why did Yorozuya kill him instead?"

Hijikata cast a look towards Kondou, whose half of his face now covered in bandages. Part of him was thankful that Koudou posed the question first, yet a part of him dreaded to hear the answer to that. He glanced back towards Katsura.

"We were caught," Katsura started to say, "Well, most of our surviving forces still managed to escape the enemy... but that was only because of the three of us—alongside a few stubborn people—managed to stall the enemy long enough for them to get away."

Katsura shrugged at them again. "Like I said... we were caught. Outnumbered by a massive odd."

"The leader of the Naraku at that time... gave Gintoki a difficult choice. It's either to kill Yoshida-sensei... or kill Shinsuke and me. They forced him to choose which one of us that could live. So Gintoki made a choice." Katsura let out a big burst of breath as he smiled weakly. "I'm sure you understand by now what choice Gintoki decided on."

Hijikata frowned.

_"I tried to protect both, but that was the same as throwing both away. Even now I dream about it, wondering if there was some better way."_

It was the same predicament that he had faced before; him having to choose between old man Matsudaira and Kondou's life, or the lives of every officer in Shinsengumi. Whether he should sacrifice one to save the other. Or save one and losing the other.

Hijikata glanced towards Kondou.

If he hadn't gathered his wits and come here to save Kondou and the old man, the man sitting in front of him wouldn't be alive now. _To think that he almost made the same grave mistake as Yorozuya did..._

"What is going on? " Katsura spoke again. "I can no longer say that I'm understanding our current situation right now."

xxx

"Times like this really makes me wanna have a smoke..." Hijikata mused to himself as he leaned against a wall. He turned his glance to his side, to a roomful of injured black and white officers.

_Aah... don't think even a smoke could help right now._

He thought about the things they just discussed earlier, on the new things he found out about Yorozuya's past... and then his thoughts wandered back towards the earlier battle. As well as Sasaki Isaburou's death.

_Guess no one were ever excluded from having their own shitty days..._

"Come on, Pattsan! We shouldn't keep Gin-chan and Boss Sis waiting too long!"

Hijikata turned his head towards the direction of the voices as he saw the kids that often followed Yorozuya around—Shimura Shinpachi and Kagura—walking past him. He walked up to them.

"What're you two doing here?" he asked as Shinpachi showed him the box he was carrying.

"Distributing food. Hijikata-san... you want some?" said Shinpachi as Hijikata grabbed two buns.

"Might as well..." he said as Kagura gave him another.

"Two buns shouldn't be enough to share between three people, huh? Tell that Sadist to not skip any meals," she said as HIjikata accepted the offer. He grinned despite himself. To think this Yato girl would care about that sadist...

Hijikata bit into one bun and held it in his mouth so that he could have one hand free.  _He couldn't exactly hold three buns with one hand anyway_. He patted Kagura's head gently.

Kagura gave him an odd look as Hijikata took the bun out of his mouth and shrugged.

"You kids take care of that curly head idiot-of-a-man leader of yours well. That guy must've had a tough night today."

Both Shinpachi and Kagura looked at him dumbfounded but then smiled as they understood the sentiment.

"Of course!" Shinpachi exclaimed as Kagura added, "It's what we always do."

The two left as Hijikata waved them off. He smiled. Back then he used to wonder why Yorozuya ended up with those two kids tailing him on various misadventures. But perhaps, that was really not a bad thing to happen to the guy. Hijikata sighed.

_Aah... he might as well have a smoke anyway._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up rewritten so many times cos I'm not sure how to go about with the discussion. Well, might as well do it anyway. Other than Gintoki, we don't really see much of Katsura's reaction either.
> 
> Sorry about the random dragon fruit. But then again, I could always put durians... but I LOVE durians. And the analogy could go weird either way.


	7. Intermission: There are times when one decides to catch up to backlogged Kamen Rider episodes because you blanked out on what to write about the next chapter.

Gintoki looked up. "Aah... it's an image of the fleeing Mimawarigumi ship, is it? How am I not surprised?"

Otae just shrugged.

"Well, since we're still not yet back at home we can't actually put the image of the Yorozuya office here, isn't it? And writer-san couldn't find a better screencap, and she's lazy to check the manga and colour the cap..."

Gintoki frowned. "Well, I guess this is another intermission chapter that we're doing, huh?"

"Can't be helped. Even when writer-san _did_ have a clear idea of how she'd want to progress this fic, it'll still be a bit of a bother when she doesn't exactly have the inspiration to type the chapter the way she envisioned it in her head. Like she could have imagined how a scene would happen in her head... but then typing a description in writing would be another tricky matter..."

Gintoki glanced at her. "Like trying to describe how the mummified Gorilla would try to pick on his nose in his current condition? Whoa.... I can't imagine how'd she wanna do that. I mean, it's easy to just have random character commenting on how he's picking his nose at this time... it's another thing to have to describe in words on _why_ he's picking his nose. Or what thoughts he's having while he's picking his nose or—"

 **"CAN YOU GUYS JUST STOP DISCUSSING ABOUT ME PICKING MY NOSE NOW? _It's just so unsettling..._ "** For some reason, Kondou's voice started to resound all over the place. How did that happen?

_**".... aah, th _ **a** t_ felt so good..."** _

...

...

Silence.

"Otae-chan? It isn't just me... is it? That sounded like that gorilla was _actually_ picking his nose right now... _wherever he is..._ "

"Gin-chan? It's not just you..."

A cough. Which was followed by another one right after.

"So..."

Otae sighed. "Do anyone actually wonder if Hijikata-san tried to trick Okita-san by not giving him that extra bun that Kagura-chan told him to give? Because really, our dear writer actually had that scene pictured but to have to type out that scene..."

"Did Zura have to be _really_ concerned about protecting our intimate moments from other's intervention... cos seriously, that's a bit overdoing it—"

**"It's KATSURA! NOT ZURA! _And no... who said about me standing guard to protect my friend so that he'd have some private moments?_ "**

Gintoki tensed. That outburst sounded like coming from the ship's PA system... yet it also possible that it was just a trick. "Zura? You're not hiding around here, are you? Don't _you_ start acting like my stalker too!"

"What? Me? NO! I'M YOUR FRIEND, NOT A STALKER! W-WAIT... IT'S KATSURA, NOT ZURA!"

He frowned.

"Otae-chan... that sounded like it's coming from somewhere outside of the corridors, right?"

Otae chuckled.

"Just ignore that... as if that would actually affect the things that will appear in the next chapter. Since Kagura and Shin-chan should be getting back to us after the last few chapters already."

"Oh..." Gintoki gasped. "About that... shouldn't we also mention something here too? I mean, isn't this the real reason why this intermission chapter was supposed to tell our readers? To explain why it's been slow lately? I mean... it's not just because our writer was just _too distracted_  while trying to catch up to the recent Kamen Rider series to actually started writing up the new chapter. Since... the draft was still progressing at that Grammartly site that she used to type her chapters."

Otae chuckled. "Well, since you already said all that, Gin-san, what else could I even add to that? Besides the fact... she's not only been catching up on Built, but the Kamen Rider series that came out before. Hex-Aid... that is. And then there's those few seasons of Baro, both anime series and live action... and fret not, she's also trying to catch up to the latest Gintama manga and anime, since she _does_ need to know if she could make this fic believable and could fit in between the canon plot. But still... that's a lot of distractions, isn't it?"

"It can't be helped. Even the Gorilla writer had his own period where he'll be distracted and cannot focus on the current story after all. Even then—oh, Otae-chan... that aside, have you been calling me Gin-chan earlier?"

Otae froze. "W-what? A-ah... no, when did you hear that... G-Gin-san? You must've been hearing things." She coughed, "but anyway, our writer hoped that readers wouldn't feel that she's neglecting this fic. Even when she had posted that new Baro the Animation one-shot a few days ago. That's because she couldn't help it when random ideas popped into her head."

"Well, with that said..." both Otae and Gintoki started talking together, "Please don't lose hope on us, the writer would still try to finish up the next chapter as fast as possible. Thank you for everyone's support all these times!"

"Until the next chapter...

"BYE!"

"Of all pictures... did you have to put in THAT one?"

"Ara... Gin-san. That was the best picture of you I've ever seen..."

"Are you sure?"

"Well... it's better than this..."

"Aaaaaaaargh! Anything but that! But... that's actually Zura pretending to be me—wait, that picture was supposed to be from a canon plot that supposed to happen after our fic setting. Are you sure we could put it up here?"

**"IT'S KATSURA, NOT ZURA! And most likely our readers had already read or watch that scene anyway, so you shouldn't worry about that!"**

"You heard Katsura-san. And... it's still a better picture of you... don't you think?

"Well... that's true."

[TO BE CONTINUED]


	8. Sometimes things unspoken end up conveying more than words could ever do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gintoki: So the new chapter DID come out not long after the last intermission. Such things worked wonders...

Shinpachi smiled to himself, as he was still carrying the box with some leftover buns that remained. Well, some other people that stayed in the cargo room might have also wanted some. And it wouldn't be fair if they just took a few for just the four of them while leaving none for the others.

So since the buns were meant to be distributed around anyway...

Shinpachi felt a tug on the box as he glanced down to look. A familiar pair of hands were trying to reach in to grab some of the buns... _sneakily_. Well, someone tried to be sneaky about it but failed.

He turned towards Kagura. "Kagura-chan, what're you doing.... and where did you get that bag from?"

Kagura glanced up towards him as she stopped stuffing the extra buns into a small bag she was holding. "Uh? Err.... this? I happened to find it somewhere earlier. Don't worry, it's clean!"

Shinpachi gave her a stern look.

"I'm asking you... what're you doing stuffing all those buns inside that bag?"

Kagura gave him an innocent look. "Gin-chan might get _reeeeally_ hungry. One bun might not be enough!"

"Kagura-chan..." Shinpachi started to say, "...if you wanted to eat more, you could just say it. I wouldn't judge. After all... you've been hurt pretty badly, isn't it?"

Kagura's face went red. "N-no... Pattsan, it's not like that. I really wanna save these extras for Gin-chan! I wasn't going to—"

_"Should I do it... or not? Should I really... but that doesn't seem right..."_

Shinpachi and Kagura blinked, as both of them turned their heads towards the mumbling voice. As expected, it was Katsura. Yet...

...why was he pacing around the area and mumbling to himself in front of the cargo room's entrance?

The two of them approached the man as Katsura turned to face them.

"Katsura-san... what're you doing?" Shinpachi started to ask him as the man let out a loud yelp.

"Aah! Shinpachi, Leader! A-a... it's ah, uhm... it's just... err..."

"Zura, you came here to see Gin-chan, right?" Kagura exclaimed, "So what're you waiting here... we should just see them, they're inside. Gin-chan and Boss sis—"

Katsura gave him a look of alarm. "Leader! Wait for a bi—"

Before he could finish, Kagura already dragged him into the cargo room, followed by Shinpachi. Just as the two youngsters were about to greet their elders, both of them saw the 'problem' that Katsura had been worrying about.

"Unh..."

Katsura shrugged. "As I thought, shouldn't it be better if we wake them up—? Or should we find some other place to..."

Shinpachi sighed. "Forget about it. It's been a tiring night after all..."

xxx

He woke up abruptly to find himself in the darkness. And his face had landed on something _squishy_.

As his eyes started to adjust to the dark (Gin realized that the room they're in was not _completely_ dark but bathed in some kind of dim red lighting) he belatedly noticed that the squishy surface was actually... _someone's chest!_

Gintoki hastily pulled himself away, somewhat glad that said _person_ was still asleep and not awake. Else, he'd be spotting some new bruises right about now.

_"What happened—?"_

He tried to move away from his position, yet felt another bump behind him... not letting him get away easily. He turned to look and—Gintoki made a face. Why is Kagura sleeping beside him? Also... _why was her face facing right beside his butt? This girl..._

Gintoki blinked. As he adjusted his sitting position—as to not accidentally pressing his butt onto Kagura's face—he finally noticed that Shinpachi had slept beside his sister on her right side, while Kagura had huddled beside him. But unlike the two of them, the kids were lying flat on the floor, covered under the extra blankets Otae had set aside for them.

Geez, if the kids came back and saw them already asleep... they should've woke them up. He turned to look at Otae. Gintoki sighed. _Or at least, get this woman to lie down to sleep properly!_

Gintoki kept eyeing the sleeping Otae.

This woman sure has an odd ability to be able to sleep while sitting upright. Even if both of them had the wall behind them to support their backs, she shouldn't have been able to—but then again he recalled a time, quite long ago when he caught her nodding off many times while still being able to sit upright on her knees so for Otae to even be able to fall asleep in this situation wouldn't be so strange.

He let out a snort.

"Had a good nap?"

Gintoki jumped as the new voice startled him. He turned his head towards the direction the voice came—Gintoki squinted. The red lighting made it hard for him to see clearly.... but was that a silhouette of a person? But that stance... and that flowing _hair_ —!

Gintoki rolled his eyes in the darkness. "Zura, what're you doing? If you've been here all along you should've woke me up. Or at least moved Otae-chan to a more comfortable sleeping position. If you're embarrassed, you could always get Glasses there to help. Or even this midget hovering near my butt here..." He turned his head towards the sleeping Kagura, as the girl starting reaching out towards his leg.

Gintoki frowned at her. _Is my leg a bolster for you now? ,_ he wondered as he vainly tried to get his thigh free from the young Yato girl's grip.

Katsura turned around to face him in the darkness. "Could we? The two of you had been particularly _cosy—_ "

Gintoki cried in alarm, "Wha-what do you mean—"

"—with each other, it didn't seem proper for us to do anything," Katsura continued talking as if he hadn't been interrupted. He paused, "Anyway, Gintoki... Are you all right?"

The man had gaped at his friend in the darkness but then decided to sober up. Gintoki just shrugged, "Have you been listening to some annoying _gossip_ again, Zura?"

"No, I didn't," Katsura was quick to deny. "You've been looking so _pitiful,_ even while asleep. So I can't help asking. You're fine now, is it?"

Gintoki sighed as he leaned again against the wall behind him. "Not really. And Zura, I'd appreciate it if you don't ask me about it yet."

"If you say so... oh, here's a bun if you want," said Katsura as he threw one towards Gintoki. Gintoki caught it just barely. He frowned as he stared at the now-cold bun.

"And Zura, were you _really_ standing guard for us over there?"

"W-wha—what're you talking about Gintoki? I'm just _meditating!"_

Gintoki chuckled as he started to take a bite off the bun. "If you say so."

* * *

Omake: Really, sometimes silence DOES convey much more than words could say.

A few hours earlier...

Otae sighed as she slowly backed herself against the wall. She smiled weakly, as Gintoki copied her actions and sat beside her.

She sighed, as she eyed the other people occupying the cargo room beside them. Some of those people; either being Shinsengumi officers, Mimawarigumi officers or even Joui rebel members, had started to settle down... and some even had gone asleep. To think that not long ago, those same people had been at odds with each other due to different ideas and beliefs on how they wanted the nation to be run. Yet right now, all of them were together on this same ship... and not even caring about past difference.

But of course, all of those things were long past now. There was no longer a wall dividing them; whether they're police officers or Joui rebels. They're all now fighting on the same side, _carrying the same burden_. Despite their differences, in the end... all of them loved their nation. And wanted to protect the place they called home.

Otae turned to glance towards Gintoki. 

Likewise, would she be able to carry _that man's_ burden alongside him? Would Gin even allow it? Otae sighed again.

"Gin-san?" she started to say, averting her gaze from him and just stared blankly in front of her. "Have you calmed down yet?"

She waited for him to answer, but hearing none she continued to talk. "Did something happen back on the island?"

Silence again. Then again, after what had happened before... Gintoki might be feeling awkward towards her. He had never cried like that in front of her before, and while she used to see Gintoki at his worse moments... this was the first time she saw him like that. While she didn't mind seeing that side of him, to Gintoki...

"If it's hard for you to tell me about it, you don't have to force yourself. I'll wait... until you're ready to tell." Otae let out a long sigh. "But please, don't let me wait too long. You might think that it's better to keep everything bottled up inside yourself, but Gin-san... you're no longer alone. If there's something that bothered you... there's always someone you could talk to."

Otae gave him a side-glance. "You don't have to bear all the hurt by yourself..."

She shrugged. Somehow, after saying all that aloud... she couldn't help being self-conscious about it. Regardless how it sounded _cool_ when she said it. But then again, Gintoki had always been there for her during the times that she didn't realize that she needed him to set her straight. Not just during the time she had decided to marry into the Yagyu family (despite the fact Kyuu-chan and her were both women), but there was also the time when Hajime-san came back to the dojo. Heck, Gin even risked his own life trying to save her when she was about to be taken away after offending the new shogun...

Gin had always been there when she needed his strength. How could she not do the same for him?  
  
Otae suddenly felt something weighing on her shoulder, followed by a sensation of a wavy tuft of hair brushing her cheek. She let out a gasp.

"I'm sorry... Otae-chan. And thank you,"

She smiled. 

Good to know that she could at least do this much for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha. Sorry for the long period of silence. Writing this had been kinda hard because I hit a block while trying to figure out how put the scenes together while not ending up making the chapter be monotonous. Also, you know those moments when you kinda forget how to form words and forgot the meaning of certain words in one language and don't know how to convey what you wanna say in another? Well, that happened too.
> 
> Extra: Sorry if I ended up postponing the next chapter again. I got distracting to reviving my other old in hiatus fics and that escalated to a lot more stuff. 
> 
> Well, the good thing about Gintama is that you can just break the fourth wall at odd times and it would still just be another day in Edo-land. XD
> 
> Also... err, the main title was REALLY actually mostly related to the scenes for the omake. But then again, it's kinda weird to start the chapter with that Gin-Tae scene so I end up twisting the order around.


End file.
